Thursday, October 11, 2012

Google Inc(NASDAQ:GOOG)’s chairman Eric Schmidt has
iterated what he said earlier in the aftermath of the release of Apple
Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone5 and the criticism levelled at its mapping software
- "Apple should have kept our Maps."

In an interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher of
AllThingsD, Schmidt, commenting on Apple replacing Google maps with its own
mapping application said that Apple should have continued with Google's mapping
app, as it was better.

Apple has decided to go it alone in navigation and
location services with the launch of its new operating software iOS 6 and
dumped its erstwhile partner Google Maps.

However its new mapping software invited widespread
criticism for throwing up faulty and erroneous data that was frequently
described as `nightmarish'. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has later on
apologised for the inferior quality maps and had advised iPhone owners to
download rival mapping applications, including Google Maps.

“Apple decided a long time ago to do their own maps,”
said Schmidt. He added that Apple had now “discovered that maps are really
hard.”

The Internet search engine is at present working on a
new Google Map application for Apple' new operating software, to be released by
the end of the year.

When asked about it, Schmidt said, "If we made
one, they would have to approve it. They haven’t approved all of our apps in
the past."

“I was on Apple’s board, and I’ll always have a soft
spot for them,” Schmidt said in the interview, when asked if he would rather be
chief of Apple, Amazon of Facebook.

“I was very good friends and very close to Steve Jobs,
and I’ll miss him dearly. Jeff Bezos has made remarkable moves. And again,
Facebook has a billion users.”